Ugandan HIV activists have asked visiting UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe to urge President Yoweri Museveni and the Ugandan government to overcome “institutionalized discrimination” that limits the Ugandan LGBT community’s access to vital HIV/AIDS care, treatment and support services.

At a meeting with Sidibe on June 7 in Kampala with LGBT, mainstream, and Key Populations (KAPS) humanrights defenders, the activists reiterated their strong commitment to working with the government for better HIV/AIDS management in Uganda. The activists told the UNAIDS chief that, without changing Uganda’spublic health policies and its laws that still treat HIV/AIDS positive people and homosexuals as criminals, the country cannot achieve the global goals of 90-90-90 by the year 2020 and then go on to defeat the pandemic. The UNAIDS 90-90-90 target calls on countries to ensure by the year 2020 that 90 percent of people living with HIV are diagnosed, 90 percent of diagnosed people are put on antiretroviral treatment and 90 percent of people on treatment have fully suppressed viral load.

Sidibe the activists for standing tall in extremely difficult circumstances and promised support from UNAIDS in making sure that KAPS representatives are not excluded from efforts to scale down the epidemic. Read more via 76 Crimes